"Dell has shared with the teams that with regret we need to make some very limited reductions to our workforce at our UK sites," a spokeswoman told El Reg.

Apparently trimming the workforce in Blighty is to "serve our customers and grow our business", according to Dell. The move will likely help the company's bottom line but any positive impact on customers is debatable.

"This requires that we rationalise resources and capabilities between business units, and continue to build the best and brightest teams to support our customers," the spokeswoman added.

The Texan titan, which has been splashing its cash on a series of acquisitions in a bid to transform itself beyond a box shifter, has at least promised to "keep our teams informed and look for opportunities to develop our people".

Dell said it "remains committed" to its operations in Bracknell, Nottingham, Glasgow and London.

"The UK will continue to play a pivotal role. Our goal is to ensure that this is maintained by continuing to look creatively and critically at what we do," the spinner added.

Company insiders were unable to put a figure on the number of staff facing the chop, but claimed the cuts will be felt most acutely in the area of services. Dell refused to comment on the number of redundancies, the specific parts of the business affected or size of the UK workforce.

In its fiscal Q4 ended 3 February, Dell missed profit forecasts as the bottom line fell 17.6 per cent to $764m (£479.7m). ®